Book construction



June 6, 1939.. p, E ET AL 2,161,591

BOOK CONSTRUCTION Filed May 27, 1938 WITNESS Ji 3 ATTORNEYS I Patented June 6, 1939 UNITE D STATES PATENT OFFICE BOOK CONSTRUCTION Application May 27, 1938, Serial No. 210,372

I 4 Claims.

This invention relates to book constructions in which a cover is provided for a plurality of sheets of paper which are bound together by a 1 tached from or inserted into a. cover. The man.-

ner in which this is accomplished by the present invention develops and creates a. number of. ad.- vantageswhich will: appear from the: following, description taken in connection with the accompanying, drawing, in which Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a book embodying the constructionv of the. invention; Fig. 2. is aside elevation of a portion of. a filler to. illustrate a type of wire binder suitable for the purposes of this invention; Fig. 3 isa. rear view of a portion of the cover illustrating the type of perforations. or apertures employed in the. construction of this invention; Fig. 4 is a rear view of the book to illustrate the manner in which the bound sheets and cover are secured together; Fig. 5 is an enlarged. detail sectional view on line 55 of Fig. 4 with the book opened andthe cover extending underneath; Fig. 6 is an enlarged detail sectional view on line 66 of. Fig. I. with the cover and part of the pages folded under.

In the drawing,.the letter A designates the cover of the book which, in the case of students and other note books, blankbooks, and the like, is

4 made from a single piece of sheet material of sufficient size to form top and bottom cover portions for the bound sheets and an intermediate portion for covering the bound edges oi'the sheets. The intermediate portionv or back panel of the booki's provided with a plurality of rectangularlyshaped apertures or perforations B which extend as-a whole lengthwise of the back panel andeach of which extends transversely of such panel. As is illustrated more clearly in' Figs. 3 and 4, the

shortest dimension or width of the apertures B is approximately the same as the width of the connecting strips C of cover material and sufficiently great to enable a pair of spaced parallelly-arranged ring members D of the binder wire to be readily inserted therethrough. The other dimension or length of the apertures B as indicated in Figs. 1- and 4 approximates the outside diameters of the ring members D of the binder wire tofacilitate the insertion of the ring members Dthrough such apertures or toconveniently 5 position said apertures over the ringmembers.

The ring members D are formed from a single piece of wire and are parallell-y arranged in pairs, the ring members of each pair being in spaced relation and each pair of members being connected 1,0 in spaced relation by the portions G extending longitudinally of the binder wire. Each pair of ring members serves as asheet-attaching ring for the sheets E passing through the apertures H of the sheets. It will be observed that in such a 15 construction the axial movement of the ring members D is limited by the connection or tie means G toa movement through the apertures G of the sheets E toa distance approximating the circumferential extent of the ring members less the thickness of the book-bound sheets, the tie membersG, when coming intocontact with either the top orthe bottom of the book of sheets preventing further axial movement; of the rings D. The type of ring structure described, although not original with us, is nevertheless an important element of our combination which requires the relative rigidity, spacing, and parallelism of rings and the limitation of movement-of the rings which this type of wire structure supplies. Each pair 30 of ring members is made" toextend through one of the aperturesB of the back panel of the cover.

7 The sheets E and the ring membersD are connected to the cover A; by means of a rod F which hasa length substantially the same as the length 5 of the intermediate back portion of the cover and one end of' which is folded back to form a flat loop J, the looped end of the rod being bent at an angle to the rod at J and the free end of the folded-backportion of the rod being turned 4 outwardly-at J, as is shown more clearly in Figs. 1- and 4 The mainportion of the rod: extends through: the ring members D intermediate the outer projecting portions of such ring members andthe-connecting strips 0 of the material 45 constituting theba'ck portion of the cover, while the end's'of the rod Fare preferablypositioned intermediate the; outer end connecting portions K of the cover and the bound edges of the sheets E. The looped endo-f the rod F is interengaged 50 with the adjacent end pair of ring members D and serves to prevent the rod from falling out and the consequent separation of the cover and bound sheets during usage.

In assembling the book construction above de- 55 scribed, a convenient method of procedure is to take the unit of bound sheets and to open them about midway and laying the opened unit on a desk or'table. The result will be that the visible portions of the rings D will be extended upwardly to an extent greater than their radii and will remain in this position by virtue of the surface upon which their under portions rest. The cover is then placed upon the spread bound sheets so that the projecting portions of the rings will extend through the appropriate apertures B. Thereupon the lower portion K of the back panel of the cover is slightly lifted and the rod F inserted through all of the ring members D over the connecting strips C and finally under the upper end portion K of the back panel of the cover. When the rod is fully inserted in position its ends will be inside of the back panel of the cover but outside of the connecting strips C of said back panel. To disconnect the cover from the bound sheets for purposes of introducing a new unit of bound sheets or otherwise, the rod F is withdrawn by grasping it at J and drawing it out.

It will be obvious that the parts constituting the book construction of this invention can be quickly and readily assembled and disassembled.

In the completed construction the cover, together with as many of the bound sheets as it may be desirable to fold under can readily be moved around the rings D to provide a fiat block or pad in which the top sheet only is available for writing or reading purposes which is a convenient and customary method of handling note books. When in the case of the present construction the cover is under-folded as stated, the wire F, normally lying at the central portion of the back panel of the cover, acts as a pivot about which the cover turns so that the central portions of the strips C of the back panel of the cover become the bending points on which the cover turns with the result that the top and bottom portions of the cover will in the underturned position, be approximately co-extensive with each other and not one materially larger than the other. This feature is of importance for a variety of reasons, one of which is that the bending strain of the cover is not in line with the side edges of apertures B where the cover is weakest and likely to tear, but at a mid-point of the strips C, where no tearing strains are set up as the cover is foldedi,

The presence of the wire F outside of the strips C furnishes a means by which damage to the strips C is prevented, since impacts will be received by the rings D and the wire F which are rigid impact-resisting bodies and not lacking in the abrasion-resisting qualities which the strips C do not possess.

' We claim:

1. A book comprising a refill unit constituted of a multiplicity of sheets having spaced apertures near their inner edges, a ring member assembly including a plurality of ring members extending through such apertures binding said sheets together and arranged in spaced relation and in parallelism with each other and connected together by tie means which maintain such ring members in parallel arrangement and limit movement of the ring members through the apertures of the sheets to a distance approximating the circumferential extent of the ring members less the thickness of the book of bound sheets, a removable cover for said refill unit having a back panel portion composed of flexible material and provided centrally of the cover with a single row of rectangularly shaped apertures alternating with strips, said apertures approximating in length the diameter of the ring members, and being penetrated by said ring members so that two oppositely rising portions of each ring member extend through the same aperture and a withdrawable rod member extending through all of said ring members, the major portion of said rod being positioned intermediate the portions of the ring members projecting through said apertures and the transverse strips of the back panel portion of the cover and centrally located with respect to said strips, said projecting portions of the ring members and of the rod supplying an exterior rigid rear protection for the strips, said rod automatically operating to cause the cover to bend along a line extending longitudinally of the backing portion and midway of the strips when the book is opened and part of it bent back upon itself.

2. A book such as described in claim 1 in which the end portions of the rod lie between the cover and the refill unit bound by said cover.

3. A book such as described in claim 1 in which one end of the rod is bent upon itself to supply a hand-gripping portion to aid in inserting and withdrawing the rod and to assist in maintaining the rod in position against unintentional separation from the associated cover and refill unit, and in which in the normal assembly of the book the major length of the rod is positioned outside of the back panel portion of the cover while the end portions only of the rod lie between the cover and the refill unit bound by said cover.

4. In combination with a sheet assembly constituted of a plurality of sheets of paper bound together by a plurality of ring members arranged in spaced relation and in parallelism with each other and connected together by tie means which maintain said ring members in parallel arrangement and limit movement of the ring members through the apertures of the sheets, a cover normally flat throughout its entire extent comprising a top section, a bottom section, a rear panel section, and a single series of apertures in the rear panel section, each approximately as long as the diameter of the ring members of the sheet assembly and approximately as wide as said ring members, the spacing of said apertures corresponding to the spacing of said ring members, whereby in the association of the cover with the sheet assembly, each ring member extends through one of the apertures affording a space outside of the rear panel section of the cover for a removable locking wire and a removable looking wire extending through said spaces outside of those unapertured portions of the rear panel section of the cover which lie between the protruding rings, and inside of the ring members protruding through the apertures of such rear panel.

JOSEPH P. ROSE. FABIAN L. RUSSELL. 

